About Us

Our mission is to build a worldwide movement empowering the poor in their fight for equal access to healthcare, education and a safe home.

Our Vision

A world free from the constraints of poverty.

Our Values and Principles

Listening: Our priorities are driven by the communities we partner with.

Root Causes, Sustainable and Value Added Solutions: we work to understand the root causes posed by poverty and create sustainable and quality solutions.

Structural Violence and A Preferential Option for the Poor: we provide high-quality services to the poor, not services slightly better than what they are accustomed to.

Collaborative & Educational Volunteering: Service Learning trips help to empower volunteers to make a sustainable difference.

Rigorous Giving & Investment: Improving on current models of charitable work and investing in poor communities.

Transparency: Inspiring donor confidence.

Our History

MEDLIFE was founded in 2005 by Nick Ellis. While working in hospitals in Chimborazo, Ecuador, Nick volunteered as a translator for a medical mission organization. On one of these clinics, Nick met a young boy in need of heart surgery but unfortunately, the clinic was only in town for a day and could do nothing beyond making the diagnosis. Nick found this deeply troubling -- what is the point of running medical missions if they are powerless to help the people who truly need it?

Following this experience, Nick knew he had to do something. Upon returning home to Bangor, Maine Nick stood in a Walmart parking lot asking for donations and within hours, had enough funds to provide heart surgery for the young boy, named Darwin. Darwin became our first MEDLIFE patient.

Out of Chimborazo, MEDLIFE has since expanded to other parts of Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, and Tanzania. All our work has been informed by Nick's experience with Darwin -- we partner with patients and communities, listening to their needs and helping where we can.

Out of Nick's experience raising money back home for Darwin came the first 4 MEDLIFE Chapters, today joined by hundreds more who continue to support our on the ground efforts by raising awareness of global health and development issues, collecting donations and volunteering at home and abroad.

Our Focus

MEDLIFE believes that in order to improve the overall health and welfare of families and communities in need, a comprehensive approach is needed. With this goal in mind, MEDLIFE seeks to deliver aid through three broad avenues: Medicine, Education, and Development.

Going beyond the services we can provide on our Mobile Clinics, MEDLIFE staff conduct year-round preventative health education workshops for those requiring additional care, ensuring that no patient is left behind.

MEDLIFE Project Fund projects assist through the construction of new classrooms or other services for schools in poor areas.

MEDLIFE Project Fund community development projects address specific issues faced by individual communities. The types of projects we engage in vary greatly from region to region.

MEDLIFE places a priority on engaging and involving community stakeholders, so as to promote the long-term use and maintenance of all of our projects.

Our Patient Follow-UpProgram

When patients are simply referred to local hospitals for treatments many times they still fail to receive the actual treatment they need due to lack of resources, lack of confidence, or lack of a true understanding of their medical problems.

For all of these reasons, MEDLIFE has developed a year-round patient follow-up process. We support our patients in many ways. We provide financial resources for treatments, emotional support, nutritional assistance for malnourished families, and educational resources to help individuals better understand their conditions.

OurFunding Model

MEDLIFE divides donations into two funds, the MEDLIFE Project Fund, which dedicates 100% of every donation toward building sustainable development projects for poor communities, and the MEDLIFE General Fund which is the broadest kind of giving to MEDLIFE and helps MEDLIFE accomplish its overall mission.

The MEDLIFE Project Fund

100% of donations and fundraising are used toward the creation of medical clinics, schools and other development projects to promote access to basic necessities and skills encouraging poor individuals and families to free themselves from the constraints of poverty and promote a cycle of health, education and personal development.

All public donations and chapter fundraising dollars go to the MEDLIFE Project Fund.

The MEDLIFE General Fund

To aid MEDLIFE in achieving its overall mission: promoting local primary care providers to bring preventative health education and curative treatment to people living in poverty who live in marginalized, rural or areas that otherwise prevent their access to quality medical care; educating these patients about gender and age-specific health concerns; providing students with real-life, hands-on experience working with poor and underserved populations and to provide them an opportunity to reflect on the root causes and implications of poverty. To support the logistical and operational expenses associated with these goals as stated above.

MEDLIFE has teamed up with Kaplan to provide added benefits for all of our members! Join or start your own local MEDLIFE chapter at your school and all members receive 10% off of Kaplan's MCAT, DAT, OAT Prep, Prep PLUS, Self-Paced, and Private Tutoring course options. Our high school MEDLIFE chapters can now use the 10% discount for Kaplan's SAT and ACT Classroom, Classroom Plus, Unlimited Prep, and Premier Tutoring courses.

Visit kaptest.com to view course offerings and take advantage of free resources such as practice tests and sample classes.

Executive Board and Student Advisory Board members are able to save up to 50% on the same programs. Contact MEDLIFE to find the chapter nearest you!

Contact Us!

Contact a MEDLIFE advisor at
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or call our office at 1-844-MEDLIFE / 1-844-633-5433

Disclaimer: In accordance with United States tax law and regulations, a donation to the MEDLIFE Project Fund or the MEDLIFE General Fund is 100% tax-deductible by the person making the donation. Please note that donations made to the 95:5 campaign or Service Learning Trip fees are NOT tax deductible.